A Time for Both
by Ciestess
Summary: "If Phantom and Danny Were indeed two separate entities, with two different personalities and set of memories forced to inhabit the same body, They could have significant disagreement on how to approach Various problems… Phantom wants to negotiate [with and would rather leave the other ghosts alone, while] Danny insists on the direct approach"


This OSW is a request from "Alviniju" on this site  
(Supplemented by several prompts from "danphanwritingprompts" on Tumblr)

* * *

"You the Guardian of the Portal?" said a gruff, echo-y voice from behind Danny.  
Fenton turned to see a tall, muscular ghost in a suit and holding a cigar that was giving off purple smoke.  
"... Excuse me?"  
Even gruffer now, the ghost said, "Are you 'Danny Phantom'?"  
Narrowing his eyes, Fenton replied, "Yeah. And you are?"  
"You can just call me 'Boss'," he said, snuffing out his cigar.

Looking Danny in the eye, Boss' hand started glowing. Before whatever-it-was had finished charging up, Boss grunted, "I have a problem with you."  
Immediately, Fenton aimed and fired his wrist-ray, and Boss went flying.

'_Hey!'_  
'Oh, don't even start! A ghost comes up saying they have a "problem" with me - and he was charging up an attack! And you **seriously** want to WAIT?!'  
'_Look. There are times to attack, and then ther- __**Incoming!**_'

Too preoccupied to dodge in time, Boss' fully-charged attack hit Danny square in the chest.  
But… It didn't hurt.

"Gameover, Guardian. If _you _disappear - so does that portal. So if you don't want to die, meet me at the top of that hill-" Boss pointed into the distance "-in fifteen minutes."  
And with that, Boss disappeared.

Danny was confused at first; nothing seemed to be happening. Then - Fenton's feet started sinking into the ground. He'd long since mastered the powers he "borrowed" from Phantom - _this _was what Boss had done!  
'_Quick! Switch, already!'_  
Danny transformed.

Now in ghost form, and with Phantom in control, they were easily able to float. But he was still intangible!  
'Darn it! What's going on?!'

'_... I'm gonna go talk to him.'_  
'Are you CRAZY?! He just-'  
'_And do YOU have a better idea how we can undo this? __**I'm**_ _ok because __**I **__can fly. But if we stay like this, you won't just __**not get your body back**_ _\- we won't be able to FIGHT. And he COULD have just killed us! He obviously wants to make some kind of deal. And also… __**Noticed **__anything yet?'_  
' . . . *sigh* … We're getting less tangible by the second, aren't we?'  
Although they were in the same body, Fenton could FEEL Phantom staring at him.  
'... **FINE**! Go **talk **to him, then!'

Flying up to Boss at the top of the designated hill, Phantom greeted him with a simple, "What do you want?"  
"The portal," Boss glared. "_Keep it shut_."  
"... I'm sorry?"  
"Every time you open that thing, more of my people get hurt. So keep. It. _Shut_."  
Danny floated down closer to Boss, his mood significantly changed.  
"People are… getting hurt?"

Boss stared at him for a few seconds.  
Phantom felt like he was being x-rayed.

"... Ya really don't know, do ya?"  
Phantom shook his head.  
Boss took another drag from his cigar. He looked like he was thinking.  
"... Earthquakes. That's the best comparison I can give you."  
When Phantom just kept staring at him, he continued, "Every time you open that portal, you rip another tear in spacetime. And the effect it has on the Ghost Zone, well, it _ain't good_. It's like an earthquake - huge, unavoidable **shaking**."

Phantom's eyes were like saucers. "Ev-... _Every time?_"  
Solemnly, Boss nodded.  
"It… It wasn't me opening it. It must've been…" He stopped before saying 'his parents,' wary of telling the unknown ghost _who to blame_.

They stood there in silence for a few moments before Boss spoke again.  
"Obviously, you didn't know. So…" Boss' hand glowed again. "I'll give ya some more time, at least-"  
"I'm sorry!" Phantom interrupted, even as he was glowing from the effects of Boss' power. "I'll find a way to fix things. I promise!"  
"..." Boss lowered his hand. "Only way to 'fix things' is to stop using that portal - or destroy it. And if it wasn't _you _opening it, Guardian, then how do I know the quakes'll stop? Better to just destroy you, really."

Phantom started panicking. Fenton was struggling for control again!  
"Just, um… Two days!"  
Boss eyes narrowed.  
"Two days! And… I'll find a way to control it! I'll be the only one who can open it. That should be good enough, right?"  
"..."

"... Alright." Boss used his power again, and Phantom slowly regained _most _of his tangibility. "**Two days**. I'll be waiting here whenever you finish. If you haven't figured it out by then, well… It'll be _**over **_by then."

Phantom thanked Boss - and took off for Tucker's house.

…

Ultimately, the best Tucker was able to do was link the portal's controls to a remote - and permanently disable the originals. It wasn't foolproof, though, so he also set up an alert for if the portal was opened with anything _other _than the remote.

Satisfied, Danny took his solution to show Boss - a full 16 hours early.  
'_See? No need for your "direct approach."'_  
'Yeah, we'll see.'

Boss seemed satisfied with it, though, and released Danny from his power. But as Phantom turned to leave-  
Phantom dodged upwards.

Boss had made a grab for the remote!  
"Sorry, Guardian. I admit, I'm grateful; now no one in the Ghost Zone will have to deal with any _unexpected_ quakes. But, well," Boss' eyes glowed ominously, "**a good businessman never misses an **_**opportunity**_**!**"

Boss charged again, but Phantom didn't dodge this time. Instead, he sighed -  
\- and froze Boss with an ice-ray.

'What happened to "negotiating"?'_  
_'_As I tried to say earlier:_

'_There's a time for negotiating, and then there's a time for the __**direct approach**__.'_

* * *

_**If you like Danny Phantom, and have any familiarity with Harry Potter, you should check out my fic "Phantasma Magica" too!**_

This is part of my "One-Shot Wednesday" project - I'm trying to write a one-shot every week that other people have requested! Original Requests one week, and Fanfic Requests the next.  
(Only Fanfic OSWs are posted on this site, however.)

To **vote for the next OSW**, go to my Tumblr ("CiestessDE"), Twitter ("Ciestess"), or my website (crossroadofinfinity. com) to find the current poll!

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